The Bargain
by TigerLilith
Summary: Making a deal with Seifer, Hayner is now required to pretend to be the bully's boyfriend for his annual trip home. The problem is, he's having a hard time remembering they aren't really dating...and Seifer isn't helping.  Seiner.
1. Deal with the Devil

**Chapter 1: Deal with the Devil**

Sitting in the airport terminal Hayner couldn't help but wonder for what had to be the hundredth time just what the hell he was doing. The lithe blonde winced as a nearby infant, who had been fussing off and on for the last twenty minutes, reached a particularly high pitch. Glancing over at his currently dozing companion, Hayner stifled a sigh and wondered, _again_, how he'd gotten himself into this mess. The problem was, he remembered all too clearly.

* * *

><p><strong>2 Weeks Earlier<strong>

"**Son of a Bitch!**" Hayner snarled as he stomped into the sandlot, flinging his jacket off to the side of where his friends, Pence and Olette, were sitting.

"What's up, man? You look pissed." Pence observed as he helped himself to a nearby open bag of chips.

"Take a wild guess." He replied, flopping down on his back with an arm flung over his eyes.

Olette winced. "Again? Hayner this is getting ridiculous; you have to get him to stop."

"You think I haven't _tried_? Nothing seems to work and I'm running out of ideas."

"Well," Pence put in around a mouthful of chips, "you could always try beating him up; that might work."

Olette looked shocked. "Pence! Violence doesn't solve anything!"

"She's right." Hayner interjected, morosely. "I've already threatened it and all he said was that he liked a little pain in his relationships."

Olette covered her eyes with one hand. "Oh my God."

"Dude, you aren't _in_ a relationship."

"_Tell him that._" Hayner sat up and began massaging his temples. "He thinks I'm playing hard to get; I told him that in his case I was impossible to get and that all he was doing was pissing me off." Hayner sighed. "Apparently, I'm cute when I'm angry."

"Oh Hayner." Olette's eyes were full of sympathy. "Maybe we could…"

"_There_ you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, Hayner."

Olette groaned at the interruption as Hayner began praying for patience. "Go the fuck away, Chase."

The male that entered the lot was taller than Hayner, about Seifer's size, with dark brown, almost black, hair and green eyes. He wasn't bad looking, really, if you could overlook the fact that he was practically stalking the skater and refused to take no for an answer. He grinned as Hayner glared.

"Now why would I want to do that?"

"Because I don't want you here! Jesus, why can't you get it through that thick skull of yours? _I am not interested!_"

"Spend a single night with me and I bet I can change your mind."

Hayner closed his eyes and began praying harder. God help him, he was going to kill this idiot.

* * *

><p>Seifer shut his phone with an aggravated sigh and leaned back in his chair. Every year he was required to make a trip home to see his family and every year he spent the entire trip dodging his aunt and whatever girl was 'just perfect for him'. For the last three years running that had been Rinoa Heartilly, a girl with decent looks but no brains whatsoever; the fact that <em>this<em> was who his aunt felt suited him was really an insult. Standing with a stretch, Seifer checked the time to ensure he wouldn't be late meeting his friends, Fuu and Rai, at the sandlot; if he started walking now, he could take his time and continue to mull over his current problem.

Hands stuffed in his pockets, the blonde bully headed out of his apartment and began making his way to the sandlot, brow furrowed as he thought. The problem was that he would keep having to dodge the continued advances of the airhead as well as all of his aunts 'plans' as long as he was still single. Seifer wasn't exactly averse to dating but there was the problem of finding someone and the scarred man didn't have any feelings towards anyone in particular. He sighed and regretfully admitted to himself that he was most likely going to spend another vacation dodging unwanted advances and poorly disguised hints towards romance unless he came up with a plan, and quick.

Before he could muse on his current dilemma further, however, the sounds of an argument coming from the sandlot ahead caught and held the blonde's attention. Seifer didn't recognize one of the voices but the other definitely belonged to Hayner and judging from the volume and language being used, the smaller skater was pissed. Curious as to who, besides himself, could manage such a reaction, Seifer continued on until he was inside the sandlot proper and able to see what was going on. Standing near the center was Hayner, arms gesturing wildly as he faced off against some punk kid the bully didn't recognize but didn't like all the same. The unknown male said something too low for Seifer to catch but Hayner's response allowed him to make some guesses.

"There is no _us_ and there never will be! I want nothing to do with you, _why_ can you not seem to understand that?"

The dark haired male smirked and took a moment to look the shorter male up and down with a fairly obvious leer. "You know Hayner, your mouth keeps saying no but give me five minutes alone with you and I could have your body saying _yes._"

A look of revulsion crossed the blonde's face and he crossed his arms as if to protect himself. Seifer couldn't blame the skater, he felt pretty sickened himself and he wasn't the one who'd been looked at like a piece of meat; who the hell was this bastard?

Finally Hayner drew himself up a little. "I wouldn't let you touch me if you were the last living thing on the planet and I was _desperate_."

That smirk again. "We'll see, Hayner, we'll see."

Seifer watched as the unknown male turned and exited through the other end of the lot looking pleased with himself. Breathing heavily and still looking a bit sick, Hayner stood for a moment and then let out a near scream of frustration as he tore his hands through his hair. "You _see?_ What the fuck is it going to take?"

For a moment, Seifer thought the younger male was speaking to him but then he saw two of his other friends standing off to the side where they'd gone unnoticed by the bully. The pudgy one, Pence, looked shocked and the girl, Olette, was pale and looked mildly nauseated.

"Hayner…I knew it was bad but I didn't know…" Olette swallowed. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't _know_; at this point I'd make a deal with the devil himself if it would get rid of that idiot!"

Seifer stiffened at the desperation in Hayner's voice and his eyes widened slightly as an idea began to form in his head. Watching as the lithe skater grabbed his jacket off the ground and stalked off, his friends in tow, the elder blonde began putting together a plan that, if successful, would solve both of their problems. Smiling a little as the final pieces fell into place, Seifer felt he'd finally come up with a way to spend his vacation in peace; now all he had to do was convince Hayner to help him.

* * *

><p>Seifer finally found the irate teen working out against a punching bag in the local gym later that afternoon; at this time of the day there weren't any other people and the bully took that as a good sign. Waiting until Hayner stepped away from the bag, the scarred man took a moment to admire the way the younger male moved; when working out alone, the skater moved with more grace than he did when squaring off against the older male, Seifer wasn't sure why but it was interesting to see the difference. When Hayner finally stepped back, chest heaving from the exertion, Seifer decided it was time to make his presence known.<p>

"So who was that dickwad you were arguing with earlier?"

Hayner stiffened at the unexpected comment but didn't turn around. "I'm not really in the mood to play with you right now so why don't you go stroke your ego with someone else?"

Seifer raised an eyebrow but refused to rise to the bait; it would be hard to enlist the smaller male's help if he pissed him off now. "Does he normally rape you with his eyes and make sexual advances or was today just special?"

With a growl of frustration Hayner whipped around, opening his mouth to snap at the bully but the serious look on the elder male's face had him shutting it instead. After a minute he sighed and closed his eyes. "Why do you even care?"

"Answer my questions first."

Throwing his hands up, Hayner grabbed a nearby towel and began wiping off. "Fine. His name is Chase; I don't really care to know what his last name is. And up until the last two weeks he just hit on me a lot and made…suggestions. I ignored most of it and shot down the rest but he's been getting worse; nothing I do or say can get him to stop and just leave me the fuck alone."

"How about a deal with the devil?"

At that, Hayner lowered the towel and stared at the scarred man. "What do you want, exactly?"

Seifer sauntered closer to the blonde and stopped, looking the brown eyed teen in the eyes. "In order to continue living here on my own it's necessary for me to go home and visit my family each year around the holidays. Unfortunately, I have an aunt that fancies herself a matchmaker and I've been her pet project for the last several years; I can't even enjoy my time at home because I'm constantly dodging the attempts of both my aunt and the girl she thinks belongs with me."

Hayner eyed the other male warily before responding. "And this has what to do with me?"

"I need a way to keep my family off of my back and you need to get rid of that idiot that's harassing you so I'd like to propose a bargain." Seifer paused. "I want you to come home with me and pretend to be my boyfriend for the duration of the visit; in exchange I'll get rid of your stalker and make sure he doesn't come back."

Whatever Hayner had been expecting the bully to say, it certainly wasn't that and he worked for a moment before anything came out of his open mouth. "Are you…out of your _mind?_"

Seifer just crossed his arms. "No, why?"

"There is no way anyone would believe we were dating; we can't even be in the same room for more than ten minutes without having an argument!"

A shrug. "So we work on it. I'm fairly sure we could manage and I'm motivated enough to make an effort."

Hayner still looked unconvinced so Seifer decided a prod in the right direction wouldn't hurt. "If you'd rather stay here and continue to play with Chase…"

The teen winced. "Alright! God…" He closed his eyes and sighed. "A deal with the devil, huh?" He eyed the blonde next to him. "If I find you have horns under that beanie, I'm out."

Seifer just smirked. "Go change your clothes and we'll work out what we need to do."

Hayner nodded and disappeared into the locker area, returning moments later in a clean t-shirt and pair of jeans, a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. Motioning the elder blonde out the door, he followed a few steps behind, not saying anything until they were both settled into a booth at a nearby café. "So, what do I need to know?"

* * *

><p>Two hours later Hayner felt he at least had a basic understanding of what could be expected during his time with Seifer's family and they'd worked out ways to keep from killing each other while together. Seifer's part of the bargain was fairly straight forward and all he needed was the opportunity to make good on it which, as they exited the café, looked as though it would be sooner rather than later. Hayner hadn't managed a dozen steps from the door when a familiar voice stopped him.<p>

"As good as you look in those jeans, I bet you look even better out of them."

Hayner made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and turned to look at the current source of his aggravation when a hand in the small of his back made him glance back. Blue eyes met his as Seifer gave a thin smile. "He's my problem now, remember?"

Face lightening a little, Hayner nodded and watched as Seifer moved around him towards Chase, who was leaning against a nearby wall. The dark haired man openly eyed the blonde bully up as he approached but didn't move.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Leave him the fuck alone."

Chase scoffed. "Or what?" He moved away from the wall and took two steps towards the blonde. "I'll do whatever the fuck I…"

Seifer didn't give him the opportunity to finish his sentence as he sent a fist flying into the other man's mouth. Head snapping back and off to the side, Chase stumbled back a step before righting himself and coming back with a wild swing of his own. Sidestepping the attack, Seifer came back in low and sent his fist straight into his opponent's gut, doubling him over, before kneeing the man in the face. Seifer watched impassively as the other male clutched at his now broken nose in pain before hauling him up by his collar and slamming him back against the wall.

"Do I have your attention now?"

Glaring around the pain, Chase gave a small nod.

"Good." Blue eyes narrowed as Seifer brought his face in close in order to nail the point home, voice low. "Now you listen to me; Hayner is MINE and if I ever find out you've been bothering him again, I will hunt you down and finish what I started." Releasing his hold on Chase's shirt, Seifer turned around and took a step before whirling back and throwing one more punch. As Hayner's stalker slid down the wall in an unconscious heap, the scarred man walked back over to wear the skater was standing, a gleeful look in his eyes.

"Satisfied?" Seifer asked with a smirk.

Hayner nodded. "I'm almost hoping he tries something again just so I can watch you beat the shit out of him a second time." He looked over at the slumped form and grinned. "Alright; you've upheld your end of the deal so now I'll uphold mine."

* * *

><p>Wincing again as the child continued screeching- <em>dear God, do they not have a TOY?<em>- Hayner reminded himself that yes, he did know how he had gotten himself into this and that he had no choice; the last thing he wanted was to give Seifer more ammunition against him by breaking his word. The blonde next to him roused as boarding was announced for their flight and shouldering his own bag, Hayner stood to follow. Seifer looked over at his companion to ensure he had everything before reaching over and grabbing the shorter male's hand, lacing their fingers together; the startled look he received had him sighing.

"We'll never pull this off if you react like that every time I touch you, Hayner; better get used to it now."

Forcing himself to relax, Hayner nodded and returned the grip on his hand. With a small smile of satisfaction, Seifer turned back towards the boarding gate. "Ready?"

With one final prayer, Hayner increased the hold he had on the elder blonde's hand and took a step forward. "As I'll ever be."

* * *

><p>AN- I am going to have SO MUCH FUN with this one...not that I don't enjoy my other stories...but I have PLANS... XD

**A/N-2- All I want for Christmas is Reviews so won't you leave me some? Aside from the other two new stories I have posted, I am working on the next chapter of Across at a good speed and hope to have an update posted shortly after Christmas. Ruin is a little slower but I am working on it. Merry Christmas!**


	2. Meet the Almasy's

**Chapter 2: Meet the Almasys**

Seifer glanced over at his companion as they walked through the airport terminal towards the baggage claim; the shorter male had been fairly quiet during the flight and there was something he needed to bring up before they got to the house. Mulling over his options, the scarred man waited until they were situated by the baggage carousel before breaking into Hayner's silence.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you about my family…" he began as Hayner looked over at him curiously. "My family is…well off."

Hayner looked slightly uncomfortable. "Just how well off are we talking here?"

Seifer shifted. "The 'I have my own set of rooms and a private balcony that overlooks a private lake' kind."

Brown eyes narrowed in thought and then widened. "Almasy…as in Almasy Industries? You're one of _those_ Almasys?"

"Afraid so."

The younger male closed his eyes. "Oh my God."

"It's not that big of a deal, Hayner."

Brown eyes snapped back open and leveled a glare at the taller man. "Are you _kidding?_ Your family is one of the richest _anywhere_; there is no way I would ever be accepted as your boyfriend." He ran his hands through his hair, clearly distressed. "This is never going to work."

Reaching out, Seifer trapped Hayner's face with his hands and forced the skater to look at him. "Calm down." He ordered. "Everything is going to be fine."

"But-"

"But nothing." Hayner looked unconvinced so the bully sighed and continued. "Look, you'll be accepted as my boyfriend because I say that's what you are…" Hayner opened his mouth to protest and Seifer glared at him until he closed it again. "…and it doesn't matter that you don't come from a rich family. If that was what I wanted, there are quite a few people that I could have chosen from; that isn't what I want though and I've made that a well-known fact." He dropped his hands and studied the blonde in front of him.

Hayner bit his lip and then pushed closer to the baggage circling the carousel. Spying his bag, he grabbed it and walked back over to Seifer, looking him in the eye. "And if someone claims I'm nothing but a gold digger after you for your money? You know aside from my brother that I have no family." He finished quietly.

Seifer blinked, momentarily taken aback since that wasn't something he'd considered, then his face hardened. "If anyone ever says anything like that to you I'll take care of it. You know I will, Hayner; I didn't bring you here to be insulted and that would be an insult to both of us."

The skater searched the blue eyed bully's face for a moment before nodding. Satisfied that he'd addressed the issue, at least for now, Seifer crossed over to the baggage and snagged his own luggage. The two didn't speak again until Seifer had hailed a cab and they were both in the backseat, on their way to the Almasy residence. Hayner looked as though something had just occurred to him and he looked over at the other blonde with a slight glare.

"You didn't tell me about this sooner because you were afraid I'd bolt."

The bully removed his beanie and ran a hand through his hair. "Well…"

Hayner reached out and hit the man in the chest with the back of his hand. "You ass, I gave you my word; I've never given my word and then broken it. If I even think there's a chance that I might, I won't make that kind of promise. Idiot." With that, he turned away from the scarred man to look out the window, clearly pissed. Seifer decided that in the interest of keeping the peace they needed in order to pull this off, that leaving him alone would be the best idea at the moment.

The ride home took about thirty minutes and Seifer watched as his family's home grew larger the closer they came to it. A glance over at Hayner showed that he had crossed his arms and his posture had deflated. Seifer felt a flicker of surprise; Hayner looked intimidated. He'd seen the smaller male stand up to others twice his size and not even blink but he was bothered by a _house_? Trying to look at things from the younger male's perspective, Seifer grimaced and then felt guilty; if he'd grown up in a small house without much money to get the things he wanted and was suddenly thrown headfirst into the opposite situation, chances are he would be uncomfortable too. Keeping this in mind, Seifer got out of the cab once it had stopped and went over to the younger male as their bags were unloaded by the driver.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Brown eyes looked over and then he nodded. "Sorry I snapped."

Bags unloaded, the bully paid the driver and watched him drive away before grabbing both of his bags and Hayner's. Returning to the teen, he then reached out and linked their fingers the way he did before boarding the plane.

"Everything will be fine, Hayner; just stay close to me."

Giving the older male a small smile, Hayner returned his grip and they walked up the front steps and in the door. Past the front door the room opened up into a large foyer with a double curved stairway leading up and splitting at the top for entry into the upper left and right wings of the house. Doors led off the main floor but at the moment Hayner couldn't see what lay past them and with as uncomfortable he was right now, he wasn't sure he wanted to explore. Dropping their bags to the side of the entryway, Seifer called out that he was home and within a matter of minutes, the sound of footsteps could be heard from upstairs. A girl with light blonde hair came running from the right wing to stop and lean over the railing, smiling at the pair below.

"Seifer! You're home!"

The blue eyed bully smiled and removed his beanie with his left hand; the right one was still tangled with Hayner's. "Hey Namine."

The girl quickly ran down the stairs and threw herself at Seifer who caught and gave her a one armed hug. Pulling away, the girl then turned to Hayner and smiled, revealing a pair of deep blue eyes. She held out a hand. "You must be Hayner; I'm Seifer's sister, Namine, it's nice to meet you."

Hayner took her hand with a small smile. "Thanks. I, uh…I'd say it's nice to be here, but…" He grimaced as he took in the entryway again and Namine laughed.

"It is a bit much, isn't it? Don't worry; you'll be used to it in no time."

The skater gave the girl in front of him another weak smile but remained silent. With an understanding smile of her own, Namine turned back to her brother.

"I figured that you would want Hayner with you so I didn't bother preparing a guest room for him."

Seifer nodded. "Has anyone else arrived yet or are we the first?"

"Well actually…"

"Oh look, the prodigal son has returned."

Seifer stiffened at the sound of the unexpected voice and turned to the left to face the speaker, releasing his grip on Hayner's hand as he did so.

"Leon."

The venom the bully said that single word with had Hayner looking over at the elder male with surprise; blue eyes were narrowed and there was a look of thinly veiled hatred on his face. Out of all the times Hayner had seen Seifer pissed, he'd never seen that particular expression and it shocked him. Curious as to the source, the younger teen leaned forward slightly to catch sight of a man, apparently Leon, with brown hair leaning negligently against a nearby doorframe, arms crossed. As he straightened and began walking over to the trio, Hayner found his eyes riveted to the stranger's face, not because he found him attractive (which he didn't), but because he had a scar the exact duplicate of Seifer's.

As the brunette came closer, Seifer shifted slightly in front of Hayner in an attempt to hide him from view and crossed his arms. "What the fuck are _you_ doing here? I thought you were off studying overseas."

Leon shrugged. "I came back." Brown eyes flickered past one white clad shoulder and narrowed as they zeroed in on Hayner. "And who is this?"

"None of your concern."

"Oh, I doubt that." He replied, shifting to get a better view.

Brown eyes traveled the length of the skater's body and Hayner stiffened in response; he didn't like the way he was being looked at. It felt like he was a prize bull being sized up at an auction, only in this case he wasn't sure if he would be kept and caged or sold and slaughtered. Both thoughts in regards to this man were uncomfortable and unwanted. Leon smirked as if he knew the effect his inspection was having but that quickly turned to a scowl when Seifer snaked an arm around Hayner's waist, pulling him close.

"Back off." The bully said quietly.

"You still haven't told me who he is."

"He's _mine_, which is all you need to know."

Leon glared in response and opened his mouth to say something else but he was interrupted by a voice from upstairs. "Squall? Squuuaaaaaallllllllll? I need your help for a minute, honey."

Seifer smirked as the brunette's face darkened. "You'd better run along, _Squall_, your mommy's calling you."

"Fuck you, Seifer."

"No thanks, you aren't my type."

Another shriek from upstairs, '_Squall, sweetie, I'm waiting!'_, and Leon stalked off up the stairs leading to the left wing. As soon as he was gone, Seifer turned towards his sister with a small scowl. "How long has he been here?"

Namine sighed. "He and his family got here this morning. No one else is here yet but I think Rinoa will be arriving later this afternoon and everyone else within the next couple of days. I got tied up helping Aunt Selphie and was just going to call and warn you…"

Seifer shook his head. "I appreciate the attempt; I'll just find a way to deal with him like I usually do."

"Well, at least this time you aren't alone." Namine replied, turning a smile on Hayner. "Come on, I'll help you carry your bags upstairs so you can get settled. Don't worry about Leon for the moment; his mom will keep him busy for a while."

The blonde trio quickly gathered up the luggage still piled by the door and hauled it up the stairway towards the upper right wing. Moving down a massive hallway framed by doors, most of them closed, the group continued towards the lone door at the end. Opening the door for the two males trailing behind, Namine was true to her word and, once she had dropped the bags she was carrying, left the two alone with a smile and a wave, closing the door behind her. Setting his own bags down with a sigh and a stretch, Hayner then turned to examine what was, apparently, Seifer's room. Although, calling a space like this a single room wasn't entirely accurate. While Seifer removed his trademark white coat and disappeared through a door on the far side of the room, Hayner slowly moved farther into the room, looking around with interest. This first room appeared to be the main living/seating area and was furnished accordingly. There was a two sided granite fireplace in the middle of the room surrounded by several plush chairs and a couch while the far wall held a rather large flat screen television with more seating. Arranged around the walls were various shelves and decorative tables with pictures, vases and other pieces of artwork as well as a table large enough for six in the space to the right of the fireplace. Trailing a hand over the back of a nearby chair, Hayner drifted through the room towards a glass door on the left. Opening the door, the teen stepped through and onto a stone terrace overlooking a good portion of the manor grounds. Moving to lean against the stone railing, Hayner just stood and took in the view; he had to admit, it was beautiful here. In fact, the young skater was so taken with the scenery that he failed to hear footsteps behind him until a hand in the small of his back made him jump. Seifer let out a snort of amusement as Hayner leveled a glare at him from over his shoulder.

"Could you perhaps make some _noise_ next time?"

"I won't be able to sneak up on you if I do that."

Hayner just rolled his eyes and pushed away from the railing, turning to face the other male. "So, I don't remember you mentioning Leon when you talked about your family."

Seifer's face darkened. "I didn't think it necessary because he wasn't supposed to be here." He crossed his arms. "Leon and I don't exactly get along."

Hayner let out a snort of his own. "I figured that much out for myself."

The blonde bully was quiet for a moment before turning towards the door leading back inside, motioning for Hayner to follow. Curious, Hayner trailed in behind the older male and took one of the seats arranged around the fireplace as Seifer did the same. After a moment of patience, during which Hayner was attempting not to squirm at the knowledge that the chair he was sitting in probably cost more than all the furniture in his apartment, his patience was rewarded and Seifer began to speak.

"Leon and I are cousins and were born only a few months apart; because of that we were always being set up for play dates and shit like that. I guess it was fine when we were younger but around age seven we stopped getting along. I don't remember what started it all but I do remember what the last straw was." Seifer shifted as he thought and after a few moments of silence, Hayner's curiosity got the better of him.

"What?"

"Hmm?"

"The last straw, what was it?"

Seifer shook his head as Hayner's questions penetrated his line of thinking. "It doesn't matter. We fought over it; that's how I got the scar on my forehead and he his. Needless to say, we've hated each other since; we're barely civil unless our parents are nearby and even then it's a stretch." The elder blonde lapsed into silence for a moment. "Leon usually goes out of his way to cause me problems while I'm home and I'm sure it'll be worse this year since I didn't show up alone."

Hayner shrugged. "I'm sure he can't be any worse than Chase was."

A frown tugged at the corners of the bully's mouth. "I don't want to chance it; just stay away from him while he's here."

The younger blonde opened his mouth to protest but Seifer just cut him off. "I mean it, Hayner, if I'm not around just avoid him."

Brown eyes narrowed before the skater's expression grew thoughtful and then a little sly. "I assume that picking a fight with Leon won't sit well with your parents so I won't go looking for him but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to avoid him completely either." The skater gave his companion a sideways look before continuing. "If he were to start shit with _me_, however, I'm sure it would be less frowned upon if you were to start a fight in my defense…"

Blue eyes blinked a few times in surprise before Seifer laughed. "Helping me with my aunt and Rinoa was enough but making it so I can beat on Leon with impunity, too?"

Hayner stood and moved towards his bags, throwing a grin over his shoulder as he went. "What's a boyfriend for?"

* * *

><p>Two hours later both blondes had finished unpacking and Seifer had given Hayner a tour of the house and immediate grounds. Hayner figured he'd probably get lost sometime in the next few days but Seifer would come looking for him sooner or later so it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal. Walking in off the back terrace, the duo was heading towards the kitchen in search of a snack when the front door opened and the sounds of excited squealing could be heard echoing off the walls of the foyer.<p>

Seifer stopped and grimaced. "Sounds like Rinoa's here."

"I guess it's time for me to live up to my part of the bargain then, isn't it?"

Squaring his shoulders, Hayner walked back through the middle of the house towards the foyer, Seifer trailing behind. Reaching the entryway, the shorter male stopped and took in the scene before him. Standing near the door were two women, both jumping up and down, hands clasped together, squealing like pre-adolescent teenage girls. What Hayner found really disturbing, however, was that one of the above females was entirely past the age when behavior such as this was considered acceptable. He assumed that the two putting on this…display…were Rinoa and Seifer's Aunt Selphie. Turning to the bully next to him, Hayner couldn't help but notice the look of utter disgust on Seifer's face and if this is what he dealt with every time he came home for a visit the teen couldn't blame him.

"Ready to get started?"

Seifer straightened and assumed a neutral expression. "Yeah."

Holding out a hand for the younger male, Seifer linked their fingers and together they walked into the fray. At the sound of footsteps the two females broke apart and turned, Seifer's Aunt lighting up as she saw the scarred male.

"Seifer! Look who's here!" She moved to reveal Rinoa who, in Hayner's opinion, wasn't bad looking if you could somehow ignore the vapid expression she wore.

"Seifer!" Rinoa gushed. "I've missed you!"

Practically flouncing, the brunette quickly made her way over to the taller blonde, completely ignoring the shorter male by his side. As she opened her arms in what was probably going to be an attempt to fling herself around Seifer's neck, the bully yanked hard on Hayner's hand, pulling the skater in front of him like a shield. The sudden appearance of the teen had Rinoa stopping short, a look of confusion on her face; Seifer's aunt wore a similar expression as she looked at the two males.

"Aunt Selphie, Rinoa, I'd like you to meet…"

Selphie's face lightened as she cut her nephew off. "Oh yes, your mother did say you were bringing a friend home." Rinoa's face had lightened as well and as she brought her arms back up and took two more steps forward, Seifer looked straight at her and finished what he'd been saying.

"…my _boyfriend_, Hayner."

Rinoa stopped and blinked a few times as Selphie's face went blank. After a minute her expression cleared and she waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, we know he's a boy and that he's your friend." Seifer frowned and opened his mouth but his Aunt didn't give him the chance to say anything else before she turned her attention back to the now pouting Rinoa. "Come along, dear. Let's get you settled and unpacked."

Gathering up the sulking brunette's things, the two women began walking towards the stairs that led to the right wing when Namine suddenly appeared on the steps walking down towards them. "Oh good, I'm glad I caught you. We've put you in the left wing this year, Rinoa."

Hearing this, Rinoa stuck her bottom lip even farther out than it had been in the previous pout. "But I'm _always_ in the right wing!" She turned to look at Seifer who was still using his younger counterpart as a shield. "I won't be near Seifer otherwise!"

Namine shifted and her face took on a look of mild regret. It almost looked genuine. Almost. "I _know_ but I'm afraid it just can't be helped; I had started remodeling the guest rooms in the right wing but I just wasn't able to get them finished in time. I just can't, in good conscious put you in a room that's anything less than perfect. You understand."

The brunette's face fell but then she turned again and leveled a glare at Hayner. "Well, what about _his _room?"

"I think you misunderstand, Rinoa" Namine continued. "Hayner isn't staying in a right wing guest room either." Rinoa's face brightened slightly but then fell again as Namine continued. "Hayner is staying with Seifer in _his_ rooms."

Selphie drew her eyebrows down as she thought. "Well, that's not really appropriate now, is it?"

Namine turned and raised an eyebrow at her aunt. "I fail to see why not; after all, they _are_ dating; what would be inappropriate would be Rinoa staying there. Now," the petite blonde continued brightly, "let me help get you settled. You'll be staying in the third guest room in the left wing."

Taking charge, Namine began ushering the unusually silent group of women towards the left side of the manse. As they made their way towards the stairs, Rinoa looked back once more at Seifer with an expression that, Hayner guessed, was supposed to make the scarred male feel guilty…which completely failed as the girl instead ran into the support pillar to the left of the stairs. Hayner was forced to slap a hand over his own mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Once the group of girls was gone, Seifer sighed as Hayner continued choking on his own laughter.

"You see what it is I have to deal with?"

Leaving off with a few giggles and a cough, Hayner turned to the bully with a grin. "Don't worry about it; I got this."

* * *

><p>Two hours later Hayner was beginning to rethink the ease with which he felt he'd manage his part of the bargain. Everywhere he and Seifer went, Rinoa was there; it seemed as though Seifer's aunt Selphie was doing everything in her power to get her nephew and the insipid girl together. Hayner could've sworn he'd actually seen her <em>push<em> Rinoa at the blue eyed man once. Clearly, this would be a bit more difficult than anticipated.

Sighing in frustration after having dodged the latest attempt to throw Rinoa and Seifer together, Rinoa had 'fallen' and was trying to get Seifer to pick her up and carry her, Hayner extracted himself from the bully's side. "I'm going to get a drink, you want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good." Seifer cast a wary look around. "Hurry back."

Smiling in sympathy, Hayner made his way to the kitchen and was about to push open the door when the sound of voices stopped him.

"But what if they really are dating?" Rinoa's voice.

Selphie scoffed. "Of course they aren't; how could Seifer ever resist someone as lovely as you?"

"But…"

"Seifer's just playing hard to get; he just wants to see how dedicated you are."

Hopeful. "Really?"

"Of course! Seifer could never go for someone who wasn't willing to stick it out no matter what; you just need to keep showing him…"

Hayner turned away from the door in disgust. Were they _both_ idiots? Walking back to where Seifer was standing against a wall of the living room Hayner decided that a more direct approach was going to be needed. He sighed and steeled himself; the things he did for a _bargain._

Seifer raised an eyebrow as he noticed the teen returning empty handed. "Not thirsty after all?"

Hayner shook his head. "Rinoa and your aunt were talking in the kitchen; there's going to have to be a slight change of plans."

"What do you mean?"

Hayner heard the door to the kitchen swing open and at the voices of the two women began coming nearer, he sighed again and looked Seifer in the eyes. "Don't hit me."

"Wha-?"

Grabbing a fistful of Seifer's shirt, Hayner yanked the bully down into a hard kiss right before the objects of Seifer's irritation rounded the corner. The shock of the kiss shot straight through the scarred male's system as he brought one hand up to cup the back of the shorter male's head and curled the other arm around his waist, pulling him closer. Seifer lost track of everything else as he changed the nature of the kiss, making it deeper, and he felt Hayner relax into it. He wasn't actually sure how long they stayed like that until a very loud '_EXCUSE ME!'_ brought him out of it. Seifer took a minute to take in the dazed expression on Hayner's face, hoping his face didn't reflect the same thing as he was feeling more than a little dazed himself, before raising his head to look at the outraged look on his aunt's face. Rinoa looked crushed.

"What?" he said somewhat harshly.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Kissing my boyfriend, you mind?"

"Of course I mind! You can't just.."

"Can't just what? Kiss the man I'm dating?"

"This is hardly the place for that, that…_display!"_

"You're right, we'll go to my room instead."

Keeping his arm around Hayner's waist, Seifer proceeded to ignore his aunt's continued protestations as he pulled the shorter blonde upstairs and into his room. Once there, he released his hold on Hayner who took a few steps towards the nearest chair and leaned his hands on it, face red.

Seifer crossed his arms and gave him a small smile. "Nice plan."

"Yes, well, I figured telling them wasn't doing anything so maybe giving them something else they couldn't ignore would."

Seifer's grin grew bigger. "I'd say it worked."

At Hayner's red-faced nod, the bully walked over to him and ran a finger down the side of the skater's face. "Why is your face so red?"

Hayner jumped away, flustered, and turned a darker shade of red. "It is not. I just, I'm, I'm…going to go take a shower."

Blue eyes followed as Hayner made his retreat, grabbing some clothes from the bedroom and practically slamming the door to the bathroom behind him. As the water began to run, the blonde bully took a seat in the chair Hayner had been using for support and began to analyze his reaction to Hayner's kiss. He hadn't minded; in fact, he'd say he'd quite enjoyed it. Thinking on it some more, coupled with the way Hayner had just been acting, the elder male felt his lips curl up into a slow smile.

_Looks like things just got a bit more interesting._

* * *

><p><em><em>**A/N- **Sorry it took me so long, guys! I had some family drama right after Christmas and it put me off my writing for a few weeks. -.- I do have partially done chapters of Across and Ruin that I'm still working at though so now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, hopefully I'll get them out in fairly good time. I wanted to thank you guys for all the reviews for this story; I was shocked and gratified! XD Oh, and if anyone was wondering, the theme for this fic is Mercy by Duffy; I knew it would be even before I started writing.


	3. Voting Thank You

**I'M NOT DEAD! Surprisingly enough, right? The move went okay though it was more of a pain and way more expensive than originally anticipated. I also just had eye surgery a week ago on my right eye so I'm hoping I won't have to deal with anything else major for a while. Thank you to all of you who voted and for those that wished me well on the move, I appreciate it! I do have a clear direction now though I'm not going to tell you what it is. :P In the meantime, here is the Thank You excerpt from the next chapter; I am steadily working on it (and about 3-4 other fics at the same time) so I 'm not sure how soon I'll have it posted but this should, hopefully, give you something to look forward to. Thank You all again!**

**Rina  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"You didn't think you'd be able to get away with just one, did you?"<p>

Hayner's eyes widened as he took a step back. "What?"

Smirking a little, Seifer took a step forward, closing the gap between them. "That kiss; you can't just stop at one."

"But…" Hayner protested, eyes darting around for an escape "all you needed was to show your aunt and Rinoa that you're unavailable and we did that."

Keeping pace as the skater continued to nervously back away, the bully merely raised an eyebrow. "You did seem to get their attention but, after such a public and…_enthusiastic_ display of affection, it would look suspicious if we didn't continue. Regardless of what I think about her, my aunt isn't _completely_ stupid; even she's bound to figure it was all a ruse if we don't continue."

Letting out a surprised squeak as his back hit the wall he'd thought was farther away, Hayner found himself unable to get away as Seifer's arms came up on either side of him, effectively trapping him in place. The shorter male's breath hitched as the bully leaned in, blue eyes boring into brown. "Just what are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Hayner spat back, bristling a little. Too late he realized his mistake.

"Good." Smirking wider Seifer darted forward and captured Hayner's lips with his own, hot and needy.

Fire erupted in the skater's stomach and he found himself clinging to the elder blonde as the floor dropped out from under him. The first kiss had pulled him in with its near gentleness but this…this was like one of their fights, all heat and dominance. Tongues fought for supremacy as Seifer tangled one hand in the wavy blonde locks of the male he had pinned and the other made its way under his shirt, fingers ghosting over tan skin.

Hayner found himself moaning at the contact, the sound swallowed as Seifer's mouth continued to attack his, and he knew he was in trouble. He had to stop this, to remember that he and Seifer weren't dating and that the bully was only using him as a means to an end. If he didn't, he might very well be lost.


End file.
